Since there is no master blueprint that all haunts adhere to and they can be So different, I would say that in general taking these things into consideration that guides would moreso be a really good way to operate your haunt because of the myriad of safety factors potentially involved. customer safety, employee safety and safety of the structure mand props.
Having a paid "agent" right there to watch everything that happens , who also has the authority to stop BS from the drunken or unruly and knows the best way out of the building during any emergency and can add to the effective routing and tour timing are each very good reasons to have a guide handy.
Combine any two or more of these negative scenarios as possible during showtime, and how can anyone argue against having guides?

Wow, was a guide used to bring this post back?lol. This year we are going to have guides on the trail out of the way, so if they stop or start goofing off a guide can come forward and get them to move on.

the one with the guides (jaycees) I've got to work with
last year, and it was helpful. They calmed down customers,
as well as kept em from going into wrong hallways and running.
the only thing was timing, as they didnt have a full system of when
to start pushing groups.

The other one is a new house, and they plan to have security roam
the haunt, and allow people to move at their own pace. Its going to
be interesting on how this will work.

Say you have 350 people in line and bring them in groups of 4 people. The small but unigue haunt has 600 linear feet for guides to follow or pull groups.

87.5 tours (the .5 tour had someone hyperventilate and left out in the front rooms) so, 87 tours 600 feet is 52,200 linear feet. That's 10 miles of walking like through mud because of the jerking and stalling.

So how many tour guides are needed to keep a good mind and walk 10 miles? How physically fit are most people these days. So you have 4 guides? Each must walk 2.5 miles. Start heading out to the Dollar Store now and see how excited you feel about anything.

If this is a trail that is half a mile, this becomes humanly impossible at some point. Or at very least with most people's physical shape it's over after one night.

It can be done but, just the breaks required, the motivation required to keep the guides going is a chore.

What's wrong with letting people lose? Designing with expendable terrain and props or having physical means to keep them from detail like railings or actor placement. What's wrong with the patrons absorbing what is being offered at their own pace? Those that want to run from the monsters get satisfied by moving quickly. Those that wish to obsorb every prepared detail go at a snails pace and are satisfied.

I have gone to good haunts (and paid) going through over the years as many as 30 times with my pace being completely different as the flow of traffic or my desire of cataloging props and room decor changed over the years. The very same highly detailed haunt can be walked through in 30 minutes enjoying every detail or walked thorough like a shopping spree in 2.5 minutes.

each of those 30 times I was satisfied a different way or if I was dismayed it was because of who I had brought with me and what irreverence or indifference I thought they might have had.

The pace of the house begins at a pace but, ultimately is regulated by actors and the traffic pace of the other groups.

Who cares if one group passes another or even if they get passed by 6 groups? It doesn't necessarily mean this slow group is up to no good, they are having a different style of enjoyment.

With a guide, half mind numbed setting the pace in a who cares pace broadcasts back to the customers who cares since they never really got to see anything or grasp the investment or skill of the scenes and actors.

The different reads also keep it intresting for the actors instead of they are human puppets that do the same thing when you pull the string. The happier and more interactive the actors become trying to read the customers, the more it seems they are putting into the event and the end result is that is was great.

Then there is the ever popular the guide only does the first 1000SF then lets them lose with a read of what kind of extreme or normal reaction a group my exhibit. If the customers are totally chaperoned where is the element of you are on your own, no one to turn to, fear come from?

You get a much higher control of the crowd if they are in fear and wonderment and are on their own, victims and must somehow survive who knows what next. Inside their minds who knows how extreme a reaction the monsters might put out to bad behavior, they are already pretty wild?

Another fabulous post from the U.S.Department of Wild Imaginings, now in spectaclar stereo, sponsored by the Adhesives and Sealants Council, suggesting ways to stick things together since the 1800s. Not fabulous in a gay way. Your results may vary. Illinois residents add 8% sales tax. These posts have been made by professional post makers, do not try this type of posting on your own without extensive training, lovely assistants and a trusty clown horn.

Just have some of those phoney naked butt-cheeks costume assesorys for them to wear.
Don't cha just love those things?
How American, how homey. A cold winter night, the wind howling around the corner of the snow covered walkway, your hound dog asleep at your feet, the fireplace crackles and glows...and you and your friends and neighbors are all wearing plastic butt-cheeks, running around the room being crazy!

We started our haunt in 2002. That year we were pulling about 350 a night for the beginning of the month and 600 a night at the end. We started out using guides and it turned out to be peoples least favorite thing. They felt that the guides that talked were cheesy (No matter what they said or how good they were ). The next year we had silent guides lead the groups. It was better recieved but we still got negative feed back. The third year we found a formula that works best for our haunt: We put people out (not in costume, but in staff shirts) at the points that we feel people could bottleneck. These spot guides have flashlights and can help lead the group if they need it. Otherwise they just sit in the shadows and watch. They are also great for helping escort out patrons that are too scared or patrons that are too rowdy to continue. We also have a black hole maze (no light). We have a guide that slips in a follows the group to keep them moving. This prevents bottlenecks there too.

Sort of covering all of the important bases.
I like most of the aspects of the way you are doing this.
The only problem though I think you would have to design the place for this method to make it work the best. You'd have to have the hiding places everywhere or else many of my customers would be asking tons of questions and wanting explanations of my rooms and displays and these all take alot of energy and time.
Of course since the narration and sometimes question answering is how I have always made it happen here I would find a tough swimm of it upstream against my previous customers.
I am doing pretty much what I want to do with my massive involvement in each tour (except on weekends in October). I can have great fun dealing with my customers the way I do, I guess that's my main deciding factor.

Well I remember a haunt that I went to "growing up" they used guides, they were different though ..... they were called "pushers" instead of leading the groups the guide would push them through ( there werent any stragglers )
the place was so crazy that everyone would freeze and thus it would slow traffic down to the point that these scared groups would act like livestock going into a slaughterhouse it would end up as one continuous line if they didnt have the "pushers" or guides. So, I say it depends on if they are really needed..... I like the ( pusher ) idea more because it was a little less personal, their job was to move you forward, not to entertain you. They could yell at you intimidate you.... I personally never cared for a guide who walked you through, the point of paying your money is to feel violated, scared, unsafe, etc. it harder to make someone feel unsafe and to get into their heads or what I call their "safety space" if you are "holding their hand" through the scary stuff.

who do actors complain about the most ?

Answer: The guys who hold onto their girlfriends, you know the guys that try to make their girlfriends feel safe.... with their arms around them from the back as she is covering her eyes with her hands ?? Yeah you know the type....

Are you confessing to liking being manhandled by" pushers"?
I wasn't quite clear on this?
I operate differently . I think that the old "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" would come quickly into play if October customers were being manhandled, wrestled with. This sends the message to them that it is OK for them to treat you the same way.
I can't just look at a person and tell if they have a black belt or are a martial arts instructor, or a despondant psycho looking for some excuse to attack someone.
Eventually a haunt will attract the style of customer they want by the style of entertainment they provide.
As I have stated before, being open every night of the year here I only see difficult customers in October, usually.

Darn voices ...... they just wont leave you alone will they..... ( Poor Jim ) Yeah LMAO I never said anything about anyone putting the hurt on a patron.... LMAO.... wow, your pretty aggressive arent you.... eye for eye ? you evil guy you....LMFAO
No I dont recomend using "pushers to misshandle patrons" I think you took me the wrong way. I stated that this particular haunt didnt use the "old guide taking you to each room with a story and a act routine" instead they used someone dressed up for the part or not to keep the groups moving at a steady pace much like a guide but from behind ( hence the name "pusher" ) You really should try to release some of that anger by reducing the cafine perhaps trying tae chi or Yoga or sumthin